Long-time councilor recognizes changes here over the decades

Long-time resident Mike Shepard is looking forward to serving the community one more time on the Columbia Falls City Council.

“I am running on my strengths of directness and the ability to focus and complete the task in whatever I get involved in,” he said.

Shepard, who ran unsuccessfully for Flathead County commissioner in the 2012 Republican primary, is currently in his fourth four-year term on the city council. He has represented the city on the county’s Solid Waste Board and 911 Board. His vision for the future recognizes changes he’s witnessed over the years.

“Our city is in transition from the once noted ‘industrial hub’ and slowly becoming a bedroom community,” he said. “We offer quietness and stability in our neighborhoods, low crime and a good school system. We are a very conservative council, reflecting our community both fiscally and morally.”

Shepard grew up north of Pittsburgh, Pa. He received a bachelor’s in education at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where he joined ROTC. He served in Army Airborne units and later near Pittsburgh. He is a lifetime member of the Army Reserves Officers Association.

After teaching for 1 1/2 years and attending graduate school classes, Shepard took a job at the ARCO Aluminum smelter in Columbia Falls and moved to Montana in 1977. He worked as a purchasing agent at the plant until 1985 and then for a Honda dealership and a plumbing supply house until he retired. He’s lived in the same house in Columbia Falls since October 1979.

A past master of the Columbia Falls Masonic Lodge and post commander at the American Legion Post in Whitefish, Shepard is a member of numerous outdoor groups and an avid Harley rider — he’s biked to the annual motorcycle rally in Sturgis, S.D. five times.

Looking to the future, Shepard addressed several timely issues.

“We need to continue to push for a clean up at the Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. plant, finish work on River’s Edge Park, finish the backflow protection program problem that’s simmered for 12 or so years, address our axis change of the traditional city to the ‘corridor,’ and then rework what can or cannot be done with the uptown area,” he said.

Shepard said he came to appreciate the importance of taxes while serving on a school board in Pennsylvania when he was 26.

“As a council member, I promise to continue to monitor what is needed and only spend when the ‘must have’ is absolutely required, trying to keep taxes under control and see that the city manager form of government continues under our guidance,” he said.

He also has some ideas about growing the economy.

“The best thing we can do is to get out of the way of growth, with minimal interference from us, and let it flourish,” he said. “Sooner or later, we will get our share of the alluded-to ‘boom.’ Our job is to do it right and have no lawsuits like our other valley cities have had.”